9 Easy Ways to Decorate with Bottles and Jars (for every season)
Easy and Inexpensive ways to decorate with your old bottles and jars throughout the year!
Who doesn’t have a hoard of old bottles and jars laying around? If you don’t, you can find them inexpensively secondhand at thrift stores, garage sales, church and estate sales. You may have to give them a good soak and scrub before you start decorating with them {check out my “How to Clean and Enjoy Sparkling Glassware”}. But once they’re clean, they can become a decorating essential all through the year! Here’s 9 Easy Ways to Decorate with Bottles and Jars (for every season).
Today I’m joining some blogger friends for our Lifestyle of Love series, dreamed up by Cindy at County Road 407. Cindy’s gathered a talented bunch of creative ladies who all love vintage! We want to spread the love and give you all kinds of new ways to use your vintage treasures! Can’t wait to see the ideas everyone came up with for vintage jars and bottles! I’ll have all the links to their posts down below.
Our goal on these hops is to share how we use the themed vintage items in our homes. Since I have quite the stash of old bottles and jars, I decided to show you how I use them in my decorating all through the year. Hopefully you’ll see how easy these ideas are and will want to chase out and get some inexpensive glassware for yourself!
9 Easy Ways to Decorate with Bottles and Jars (for every season)
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Line Up Colorful Glass Bottles for Instant Decor
A colorful collection of different-shaped bottles can become an instant pretty display. Line them up where they’ll catch the sunshine and you can enjoy their gleaming colors.
In Springtime, this array of blue and green bottles was tucked into a garden-themed display, celebrating the leaves popping open. Colored bottles would also be beautiful on a windowsill, with the sunshine streaming through.
Force Spring Branches in Vintage Jars
Before Spring actually starts, I love to clip branches from our Spring-blooming trees and bushes. To get a head start on the beauty, I tuck faux flowering branches in with the real. The combination of the little green buds popping out with the faux flowers is such a treat when the snow outside is still melting! Pebbles in the bottom of the jars add texture and keep them from tipping over.
Fill Summer Bottles and Jars with Garden Flowers
I love flowers, not only in the garden, but all around the house. Clipping a fresh bouquet is the way I get myself to clean the bathroom! Once I finish cleaning, I treat myself and the bathroom to garden flowers!
Rather than just settling on one vase of fresh flowers, I love to group bottles and jars-full. The more the merrier! Grab an old wooden tool caddy or a glass carrier and fill it up with the freshest blooms! Mid-summer is all about “face flowers” (those with a middle) like zinnias and daisies. They look so fun in old pop bottles! For late summer, I love the combination of sunflowers and green hydrangeas in vintage aqua blue ball jars.
Old Brown Bottles are Perfect to Decorate for Fall
Vintage brown bottles are so fun to bring out for Fall decorating. Years ago I scored a science lab-full of old bottles with their chemical labels still intact. The bug specimens add to the creepy vibe and make the perfect Halloween decor. Simple spanish moss and sticks in some of the brown bottles, along with votive candles create a fun vignette.
Think of Candy as Decoration for Bottles and Jars
For a more lighthearted take on Halloween, I bring out the orange and black labeled vintage milk bottles. Some candy corn and a bit of raffia is all it takes for simple Halloween decor. Candy can be an inexpensive filler for any glass jars and bottles. Take a stroll down the candy isle and see it’s sweetness as decor rather than tooth decay! I used to tell my kiddos, “Don’t eat it…it’s for decoration”. Smart momma;)
(for similar cute mini pumpkin candles, see HERE)
A Canning Jar Lifter Makes the Easiest Winter and Christmas Centerpiece
Since we’re talking about candy as decor, I’ll show you one of the most popular Christmas centerpieces we used to sell in my former store! All you need is a wire canning jar lifter and 7 glass quart jars, the small mouth version. You’ll need to have glass votive cups that are fluted to fit in the mouths of the jars (find similar HERE).
Simply fill the quart-sized jars with peppermint candy. I used the peppermint balls for this one. The thicker, short, straight candycanes you can get in a blue box at Walmart are the best (and they’re cheap;)
Pop a candle in the votive cup and set in the jar. Instant, easy Christmas centerpiece!
For a winter version, fill the jars with water and add snips of evergreens from your yard. You could also add cranberries.
For classic Christmas red and green, do a little of both!
Beyond Decorating, Use Old Jars for Craft Storage
If you’re not convinced to go out and grab yourself a whole mess of old bottles and jars yet, know they can be functional as well as decorative! I color coordinate my embroidery thread and buttons in vintage jars. I’ve got jars full of old game letters, numbers, and even jingle bells! Beyond their function, they look cute on a craft room shelf!
Are you convinced of the amazing decorative value of old bottles and jars yet? I hope so! Old bottles and jars are an easy and inexpensive way to decorate, and organize your home.
Check out Le Cultivateur’s great ideas for vintage bottles next; I’m sure you’ll love Emily’s amazing style!
Thanks for reading 9 Easy Ways to Decorate with Bottles and Jars (for every season). Become a Lora B Insider down below if you enjoyed your visit!
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Lifestyle of Love Blog Hop: Bottles and Jars
Sharing at these lovely parties:
Lora,
I am so amazed by everyone’s collections on this hop. I love all of your ideas. My favorite is the evergreen look for winter! So pretty!!!
Yes, we are all bottles and jar lovers, indeed, Christy! So many great ways to use them!
I LOVE all your ideas and inspiration, Lora! Using the votive cup on top of the jar opening is genius, such a great and versatile idea. All the old pop bottles is so fun for summer flowers!!
Glad you enjoyed the ideas, Debra! Thanks:)
I know I’ve told you this before, Lora, but you have such an eye for creating unique and interesting vintage vignettes. I can’t pick a favorite because these are all lovely and such great ideas. I paused at the floral vignette with the pop shoppe bottle – my goodness did that one bring back memories of my childhood at the lake!
I always appreciate your sweet comments, Marie; I should print them out and hang them where I can see them everyday for a lift up:) You’re a wonderful encouragement! Yes, those pop shoppe bottles are so fun; I picked up 3 cases of them in a curbside pile! Those kind of finds will keep me junking till I die;)
How fun that you found those science lab bottles. They are perfect for Halloween. So adorable. Your flowers are gorgeous too.
Thanks, Katie! Think I can enjoy the garden flowers for a couple more weeks, so will keep snipping as long as I can!
Lora, you have a knack for displaying vintage finds and it shines through in your post! I love everything here and it’s so hard to pick a favorite, but if I had to it would be your Halloween vignette. So happy to be hopping with you on this super-fun blog hop!
Yes, the creepy bug collection is a fun change in my house for the season, Michelle!
There is something so cheerful about old soda pop bottles. They instantly bring a smile to my face. Love your sweet collection!
I know, Laura! I miss the old glass bottles with the great graphics; totally a flashback to childhood:)
Hi Lora, Can you give any suggestions about where to find the wire canning jar lifter? When I put that in Google, I mostly find the tongs that you use to pull the jars out of the water. I may have found one. Can you tell me about how big yours is? Thanks for your help. Love your ideas. Glad to have you back in my inbox! I hope your parents are settling in well.
Thank you, Marilyn:) My canning lifter is 12″ across. I know canning products are in short supply this year, since everyone had gardens. I find them in old scary basements at estate sales…dead spiders inside as a bonus;) Good luck!
I loved seeing all of your ideas. I’m now wanting to get some candy corn to use in some of my milk bottles for October Halloween decorating. I’ve always wanted to do a centerpiece with a canning rack. I love both your Christmas and winter version!
That Christmas canner idea is such a hit and so simple and easy! We used to sell them for about $28, one after another! My biz partner was the jar queen and loved putting them together:)
The Christmas one was my favorite, lots of ideas and i do have a few bottles and jars. I have some of my Ball jars with my beans, macaroni, and even brown sugar. I pray your parents like where they live now and have made a cozy home. Have a great week.
Thank you for your kind words, Marlene; it’s a big adjustment, especially during a pandemic. Yes, canning jars are awesome for pantry items!
I should have tried the “don’t eat it, it’s for decoration” candy idea! Unlike you, I guess I’m a bad mamma jamma. LOL! So glad you didn’t do a close up photo of the nasty bugs in the Halloween vignette. Yuck. Loved all of your ideas though. You are so clever! Thank you for joining us Pinned!
I don’t mind the bugs, Cindy,…when they’re dead;) Yea, sometimes the “only for decoration” talk worked, sometimes the jars looked a little emptier days later! Oh, the things we mothers try;) Always love being a part of this group!
Hi Lora,
You certainly have a wonderful collection which is no surprise.
I enjoyed all your ideas and inspiration!
Have a great day!
Cindy
Call me the queen of junk, Cindy;) Think it’s genetic!
So Creative. Thank you for sharing.
Your welcome, Rebecca!
Love this beautiful ideas to much, Lora! I can’t get over your curiosity cabinet and chemistry jars. I made one for the littles last year and while they liked mine they would jumping up and down over yours 🙂 I’ll definitely have to try your milk bottle and candy corn idea and the gorgeous holiday votives too. They’re so elegant! Hugs and happy Fall, CoCo
I originally thought I’d clean out those yucky bugs and whatever scary chemicals, cuz I liked the little black-topped bottles. But years later, I still love bringing out all the science lab freebies to decorate for Halloween! One of my most memorable curbside finds, indeed!
Lora,
I really love all your creative and frugal ideas! In this post, I especially liked the mason jars filled with candy and with evergreen sprigs. So cozy and simple, but very lovely? It takes a lot of creativity and mental work to keep coming up with so many ideas! I appreciate all your posts! Tnanks!
Laura Coyne
Glad you enjoyed all the ideas, Laura!Thanks for your kind words;)